


The Angelic Core

by ArthurtheGatekeeper



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood is the New York Institute, Alec and his Siblings get into trouble as kids, Alec is is an engineer cause it fits in this verse, Canon Compliant, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:29:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26888158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArthurtheGatekeeper/pseuds/ArthurtheGatekeeper
Summary: Alexander Lightwood was connected to the New York Institute. He grew up there. Ate, slept and worked there.Also he was literally connected to it. To its Angelic Core.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 16
Kudos: 161





	The Angelic Core

Someone was singing.

He rolled over and squished his pillow over his ears. He wasn’t allowed to leave his room after hours.

But someone was singing. Loudly. He couldn’t ignore them.

It was really beautiful, although the song was in a language he couldn’t even begin to know.

His feet padded against the wood flooring and he wished he was old enough to use the soundless rune.

The adults were yelling in the ops room. He shrunk against the walls as groups ran past him. Not seeing him.

Not noticing him.

Too small to hold a blade. Too small to pay attention to.

The lights flickered above as he reached up to turn the door handle. The singing was everywhere. In his veins. His bones. His soul.

There was a thick sheet of glass above a control panel that he couldn’t reach.

The paneling on the wall fell apart as the room shook with the song. He climbed through.

The angel pulsed white and blue with song and he crossed the room to them.

Someone was calling his name but he could barely hear them over the thrumming of the song.

He reached out and-

Woke up in the infirmary.

“Alec!” His mother scooped him into her arms. “We thought we’d lost you.”

His throat was too dry to respond so he cuddled into her arms. Enjoying her rare warmth.

“How did you even get to the core?”

He didn’t know so he didn’t answer.

She left the light on when she went to take care of Izzy. His father still dealing with the aftermath of whatever had happened.

He closed his eyes and the lights flicked off. Motion sensitive he assumed.

“Where did my notebook go?” Izzy fretted. Pulling her room apart.

“Did you check under your bed?”

“Of course I did- oh.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Mom is something wrong with the air vents?”

“Why do you ask?” She had an odd expression.

“They just sound weird is all.”

A week later he was enrolled in three extra classes about the facilities and their maintenance.

“They’ll be useful when you’re head of the institute.” She’d explained.

They were easy classes, especially once they got to the practical, so he didn’t complain.

They laid in a heap on his bed. Izzy, Jace and him. Swapping made up stories about demons so they could better remember their defining characteristics for exams.

Izzy draped an arm over her eyes. “I’m tired. One of you get the lights.”

“Stay here tonight? That’s against the rules you two.”

They both groaned and pulled his blankets tighter around themselves.

“Hey what kind of brother would you be if you made us sleep alone after that last story?”

“Oh it scared you?”

“No.” She glanced at him. “Course not.”

He dropped back into the bed between them.

“Alec no.”

“You’re supposed to get the light.”

“Why?”

“Cause we’re comfy!”

“Cause you’re the oldest.”

He grabbed a pillow and made himself comfortable. “They’ll go off on their own anyway.”

“My room doesn’t do that!”

“Maybe you just aren’t still enough for it to work.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

A minute later the lights flicked off and he felt very pleased.

“We’re breaking the rules.” He reminded them, rubbing at the headache that had been building for days now. You couldn’t be head of the institute if your file was covered in red marks.

“It’s fine Alec. We’re just going to the core. Not all of us get to tour it for their engineering classes.”

“It’s just the core. And we don’t get to work with it until the last year anyway.”

“Then you should be excited.” Izzy pointed out with a smirk. “You get to see it early!”

He looked away as Jace entered in a stolen security code. Waving them in. The door closed behind them.

“Well that’s cool.” Jace elbowed him. “Wanna share any nerdy facts about the angelic core.”

He frowned. Listening to it pulse and whir.

“One of the coils is misaligned.”

“Not. Really what I was going for Alec.”

He moved to the control panel. Running through the diagnostic systems, waiting for them to confirm what he was hearing.

“Alec we should go. We can’t be caught messing with the core.”

“Someone’s not doing proper maintenance.” He snapped as the sensor confirmed it. “This will just take a minute.”

“Alec you said they haven’t even covered Core maintenance yet.”

“It’s easy.” Because it was. The steps laid out before him.

Jace grabbed his arm. “Alec stop.”

He paused. Looked over at him. “Trust me.”

Hesitation. A nod. He let go.

Two minutes later the core was humming perfectly again.

Then security found them.

The lecture was impressive.

More impressive was the look of horror when he explained a coil had been misaligned. When they’d confirmed it.

There were three other coils and many safety measure in place.

It still could have led to a catastrophic meltdown.

They were thanked and charges never pressed.

Which really only made Jace and Izzy more willing to bend the rules.

At least his headache was gone.

He stopped. Drew his weapon. “Something got in.”

Jace looked back at him questioningly. He sounded the alarm. Readied his bow.

One of the hunters- freshly returned from patrol’s head snapped.

He landed an arrow in his leg. A demon corporated behind him.

Izzy whipped it. Jace stabbed it. Dead.

“How did you know?” The man’s partner asked. “We didn’t- We didn’t realize- We thought he was fine-“

The wards had objected. The core sang. Not loud enough for the sensors but loud enough for him.

He didn’t know how to explain that.

“Lucky he did!” Jace declared, slapping him on the shoulder. “He’ll be fine now.”

“Take him to the infirmary to recover.” He ordered.

They rushed off with a nod. Carrying him between them.

“How did you know Alec?” Jace asked. Voice hushed.

“I don’t know.” He focused on the distant hum of the core and the monitors and the wards on his skin. “I just did.”

After a moment Jace said, “Good instincts,” with a clap to his shoulder and a departure.

He hoped that was all it was.

“He’s the one who warded the institute.” He observed as they waited for Clary to finish the summoning circle.

“Really? How can you tell?”

He paused. It was obvious. The wards on the apartment felt the same as the wards on the Institute.

“Figured you didn’t read the briefing.”

Jace sent him a rueful smile. “I’ve got you for that.”

“Cream or sugar?”

He woke up on Magnus’ couch.

Sure. He’d been tired. It had been a ridiculous five days.

But he’d fallen asleep in a warlocks apartment. Felt as safe here as he did at the institute. The same wards warming his skin.

“I trust you. I don’t know why.”

“Trust makes us do strange things.”

“Alec!” Izzy yelled at him down the hallway. “Stop locking Clary out of her room!”

He glared at her. “I just got off shift. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It keeps slamming closed and locking!”

“Get a door jam then.” He told her as he retreated to his room for a break. It wouldn’t last. But he was glad for the moment of quiet it brought.

The head office was colder than normal when he entered.

“Lydia Branwell, Will you marry me, Alec Lightwood?

When she said yes it warmed.

He’d need to check the climate controls.

The lights flickered as Magnus turned away.

“You’ll want to check that.” He looked up at the lights. “Hate to risk another meltdown.”

The core was fine. He checked. Double checked. Had an independent set of eyes confirm.

They song sounded so sad these days. He wondered why.

“I have to do this. For Izzy.” He had to find Jace.

“Prepare yourself. This will be very very painful.” Hodge warned.

“Do it.”

It hurt.

The world flickered out around him.

Distantly he heard Lydia gasp. Something break.

“Alec there was a massive power surge while you were looking for Jace. You need to go-“

“The core’s fine Lydia.” It sang its sad song just fine. “I need to talk to Izzy.”

“What happened? Are you and Jace okay? The lights-“

“No. Our parabatai bond it’s just so. So weak. He’s like a ghost.”

The room was warm but the song so sad. Defeated.

“She has no choice but to go through with the trial now.” He looked up at her. He’d failed her.

She sat next to him. Held his shoulders. “It’s okay, big brother. I know you tried.”

“I’m sorry.”

If the lights brightened. If the air hummed. If the wards and core sang in unison when he kissed Magnus Bane he didn’t notice. He was rather busy at the time.

The light was dim when he woke up. As they hauled Jace away. He didn’t understand. He didn’t know why they were taking Jace away.

The doors slammed in their face. They jumped.

“Alec it’s okay.” Jace called back.

He didn’t understand but they pushed through the doors anyway.

He didn’t feel when the demon entered the institute. Just like he hadn’t felt the forsaken enter.

What good were instincts if they didn’t work? If they couldn’t protect you?

He’d killed Clary’s Mother.

It felt like the institute itself was trying to wrap him up in apologies.

He shot another arrow. Fingers bleeding.

He didn’t deserve comfort. He’d killed her. He deserved punishment but no one could deliver it.

There wasn’t punishment enough for what he’d done.

Hand shook and blood ran down his palms and knuckles.

He kept shooting.

“Nobody blames you.”

“They should.”

He knew the moment they’d failed.

The moment soul sword activated.

He collapsed. Pain lancing, lighting, piercing through his chest.

He wasn’t sure if it was Jace or him but it hurt.

Aldertree was calling to him when the pain dissipated enough to hear. To think.

“Magnus.”

“Why is the efficiency of everything so below normal?”

“Surprised you’re reading the reports. Thought that was my job.”

“Alec. I know you’re upset-“

“This is _wrong_ Jace.”

Jace continued over him. “But that’s no reason to sabotage the institute!”

“What?” He stopped. He didn’t know what Jace was talking about.

“If we didn’t need all hands on deck for these murders I’d say go take a break with Magnus but-“

“You think the institute runs better when I’m not here?”

“I think it runs better when you’re happy!” Jace looked down at the papers. Shifting through them. “Hell I bet I could track when you had dates with these reports.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not helping you chip downworlders either Jace.”

Jace shivered on the other end of their bond when he closed the door behind him like all the warmth had left the room alongside him.

“Was the institute alright while you were in Alicante?” Magnus asked as he sat down, crossing his legs at the ankles.

“No one reported any issues.”

“So you had a good time then.”

“It was fine.” He wasn’t sure how that related. “I was offered a position on the counsel.”

“If we’re lucky it’ll only vaporize the institute.”

“What if were not lucky?” Izzy questioned. A perfectly reasonable question he wished she hadn’t asked.

“Try not to think about that.”

“This is a risk we have to take.”

“The whole point of building the institute away from the lay lines was to avoid something like this! Why not just quarantine the warlocks outside the city?”

“Because kicking innocent people out of their homes won’t solve anything.”

“Neither will blowing up the institute!”

Everyone started arguing at once.

“Enough!” They quieted. “This isn’t just about the warlocks. You know what happened at that hospital. Everyone is at risk.”

His head engineering caught him on the way to the core. “Alec. You should know there’s another way.”

“What?” He hissed. Glancing around to check no one had overheard. But it was just Magnus and him. “Why didn’t you mention this sooner?”

“Because.” Her eyes twitched over to Magnus before returning to him. “It’s suicide.”

“Magnus is already doing enough.” He wouldn’t lose Magnus like that.

“I didn’t mean for him.”

“Oh well that’s quite enough of that then.” Magnus quickly dismissed.

“That’s why I didn’t mention it earlier!” She grabbed his arm. “But the lay lines just need to be connected to the core.”

“Is it safer?” He asked over Magnus’ objections.

“It would add a layer of protection in case a shockwave happened while they were connected.”

“And the connector would die either way. Not happening.”

“Magnus-“

“No Alec I won’t kill you for an extra layer of protection that might not be necessary or work. I won’t.”

“Alright.” Maria agreed with Magnus over his protests. “I won’t mention it again.”

“Good.” Magnus’s boots tapped towards the core. He looked between them as Maria turned back towards her station. Her grey hair growing distant.

He caught up. “Magnus.” He started.

“You wouldn’t do it if it was me instead. Don’t ask me.”

He was right. He wouldn’t. Wouldn’t even consider it. “Fine.”

He jolted as the lay lines connected. Clutched the panel.

That. Was a sensation.

Unauthorized beeped back at him.

His hands shook as he fought with the rusted mechanism. He could feel the lay lines pulsing in his veins.

The rune for strength on his bicep lit up all on its own. The switch moved.

Power pulsed out and for one wonderful and terrible moment he could feel the entire city.

He stumbled over to Magnus’s collapsed form.

“I did it.” The core sang its delight.

“You did it?”

“Yeah.” He took in Magnus’s face, grinning all the while. “Well maybe, maybe I got a little help.”

“Did you and Magnus have a fight?” Izzy asked as she strode into his office.

Why did she always know when he was upset? Jace could feel it but she always knew.

“No. What makes you say that?”

“The computers in the ops center keep freezing.”

“Send a maintenance crew then.”

“They’re working on it. And I’m checking on you.”

“Why?” He snapped rounding on her. Which wasn’t fair. But his chest hurt and he was tired and.

She stared at him so earnestly. His chest hurt more. His shoulders slumped. “I asked to move in.” He admitted.

She looked taken back. “Alec it’s only been a few months!”

“That’s what Magnus said.” He considered the reports that needed reviewing on his desk.

She pulled him into a side hug. “He still loves you Alec. It’s alright.”

Of course it was fine. They could slow down if Magnus wanted.

But he didn’t want to slow down. He knew exactly where he wanted to land. Why wouldn’t he make the jump?

He forced himself to focus.

Cheers came from the ops center.

“Am I doing that?” He asked as he leaned a little more into her embrace.

“I’m sure they just found a bug in the last update.”

He looked at the door that had swung closed behind her and wondered if that was true.

_I bet I could track when you had dates with these reports._

He flipped through them. The institute _had_ been running better these last few months. It hadn’t run poorly before that. Before Clary it had run fine. It rarely ran poorly.

But when it did. Run poorly.

There were a handful of reports in a very short window on the day Jace had died. Been wished alive again. Of computers, monitors and cameras breaking. Reports of how suddenly all returned to perfect function.

He wondered how many reports hadn’t been filed.

When he’d been unconscious. Almost died. Was seriously compromised. The institute suffered with him.

It terrified him.

“I’m connected to it aren’t I? The core.”

His lips drew into a tight line. He still wanted to kiss them. “Yes. You are.”

“How?”

“I don’t think I’m the right person to ask that.”

“Mom. I wanted to ask.”

She smiled so much brighter these days.

“I found some reports about the core nearly overloading when I was young.”

She sat up impossibly straighter.

“I couldn’t find a clear explanation for why it stopped.”

“We don’t know.”

“Mom.”

“We don’t Alec.” She moved closer. “We thought it was going to blow and then it just stopped. Robert found you unconscious. Right next to the core.”

She took his hand. Urging him to believe her. “By the time we realized it had. Done something to you. We couldn’t bring it up.”

“Why not?” It was just another secret they’d decided to hide from him. He was so sick of their secrets.

“You survived contact with an Angelic core Alec. The clave would have taken you for study and we’d have never seen you again.”

She was right of course.

That didn’t make it easier.

It was strange. Not having Magnus’ wards singing in harmony with the core.

But Magnus was alive. Jace was alive. Izzy was alive.

Really who was he to complain?

Magnus was still Magnus. That was all that mattered. He didn’t need the wards singing in tune. He loved him. Magic or no.

Guiltily he tried to ignored the relief he’d felt that his feelings hadn’t changed. That whatever the connection he had with the institute hadn’t made him love Magnus.

Trust, maybe. But not love. This was his.

This was his.

“I want everything to be perfect.” He’d told Jace. He repeated to the walls.

The core thrummed its excitement and joy and nervousness.

He wondered, as Magnus ran late, if the wards would have responded in kind.

“Please Alexander. Don’t make me pretend like this is just a phase. Because it’s not. What I’m feeling now. It may never pass.”

Quietly the lights flickered off around them. Losing their warm and comforting glow.

He didn’t have the strength to turn them back on.

_You would blow up the very ground you stand on to make something right._

“You’ve been brooding more than usual. Which is saying a lot. What’s up?”

“Nothing. And I don’t brood.” His gut twisted. “Why did I break more monitors?”

“No Alec. Come on. Remember what you said after my relapse? Be honest with the people who care about you.”

“Okay. Just. Can’t tell anyone.” It hurt to force the words out. “I was going to propose to Magnus last night.”

“What? Are you serious?”

“Yes. But just listen.” And he told her of his choice.

“Breaking up is going to hurt like hell. But it’s the kind of hurt he can recover from.”

“What about you? Can you recover?”

He offered her no false promise or assurance.

The future looked darker than ever.

He shoved his focus into the institute. Didn’t let it waver. If he wavered it would all fall apart.

He reviewed the report for the last week.

He’d managed not to make things worse at least.

He pushed back from the desk and hung his head. Tears started to fall and his breath caught in a sob.

The lights flickered.

He held his breath.

He could not waver.

He could not mourn.

He forced himself to review another report.

“Simon. I need you to turn me into a vampire.”

It was the only way. If that’s what it took to be with Magnus again he would.

They raised objections and denials. The core cried out in horror. Lights strobed, computers froze and blue screened and music began blaring over the emergency speakers.

“Behave!” He snapped at the walls.

The doors slammed. It settled.

“Alec we will find another way.”

“What other way? Huh? Tell me. Tell me something. Any of you?”

They had nothing. The doors swung open as he approached and slammed behind him.

The lights flickered. The building rumbled.

Clary continued drawing the alliance rune.

“Alec?” Jace looked at him nervously.

He shook his head. It wasn’t him.

“Clary this is a lot of resistance.” Jace warned her.

But it worked.

She burned it into his skin. The building rumbled. Distantly they heard the things crashing to the ground as the building shook with rage.

Lorenzo looked distinctly nervous as she started on him.

He placed a hand against the buildings walls.

“Please. Do this for Magnus. Do this for me.” He begged it.

Lorenzo fell to his knees. “What in the world is that?” He gasped.

He felt Lorenzo’s magic pulse in his veins. It was like the wards on his skin but deeper and like the lay lines in his core but weaker.

And either way it wasn’t Magnus.

“That,” He said, letting go of the wall. “Is the angelic core.”

“You are formally invited to the wedding of Alexander Gideon Lightwood and Magnus Bane.” He glanced back at it. “Tonight?”

“Why wait even a day longer?”

He’d hoped for a longer engagement. Getting to introduce Magnus as his fiancé and plan out every silly detail.

But this way he could introduce him as husband instead. And that was even better.

“First up. Location. Taj-Mahal?”

“Mm-mm.” He shook his head.

“Or… Machu Picchu. In the temple of the sun.”

“Or how about the Institute?”

“Right… Because when I think romantic I think of the New York Institute.” He understood the implication but quietly disagreed. He thought the way their powers entwined within its walls was very romantic. “How about Ladera in St. Lucia? Portals can shuttle people in and out-”

“Magnus. Just think.” He pulled out his ace. “The Clave would have to honor and celebrate a relationship between a warlock and a Shadowhunter. Under their own roof. Think about the message that would send to others like us.”

Magnus considered it. “Alright. The Institute it is then.”

“I’m not stepping on your feet am I?” He asked as they slowly turned across the dancefloor.

“How could you? I’m walking on air.” 

And the institute and its wards sang out in perfect harmony.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work for Shadowhunters! I know I missed the boat a little but Let me know if you liked this! And thank you for reading!!!


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